Fourth to charles mcdonald



(No Model.)

S. D. EDGAR. TORPEDO PLACER.

in 1m;

v 011 the rail.

NrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SILAS D. EDGAR, OF ILKES-BARRE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTIITO (JIIARLES MCDONALD, OF SAME PLACE.

TORPEDO-PLACER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 467,926, dated February2, 1892.

Application filed July 17, 1891. Serial No. 399,811. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SILAs D. EDGAR,a citizen of the United States,residing at Vilkes- Barre, in the county of Luzerne and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTorpedo-Placers, of which the following is'a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements intorpedo-placers; and it has for its objects, among others, to provide animproved, cheap, durable, and efficient device of this character,whereby atorpedo may be quickly, accurately, and success fully placedupon a rail from a moving train while under great speed.

It has for a further object to guard against accident to the placer byreason of slivers or other obstructions on the rail.

Another object is to protect the user from injury or danger of beingthrown from the train in case obstructions should be found upon therails.

Another object is to provide for the ready insertion of a torpedo in theplacer.

I provide a trailer designed to move over. the top of the torpedo afterit has been released from the jaws of the placer to press it upon therail and prevent cooking up thereof. I provide at the forward end ofthe'placer a guide or flange, the forward end of which is turned upslightly, so as to prevent contact with or injury by slivers or otherobstructions I turn the forward edges of the jaws outward and taper themfor a like purpose, as well as to aid in centering the placer upon therail. I provide a button eccentrically mounted on the jaws for holdingthe spring-arms of the torpedo. I construct the jaws of such length asto prevent their contact with the bolts or fish-plates should the latterbecome loose. I so construct the spring arms of the torpedo thattheywill bear upon the sides of the tread of the rail only instead ofbeing extended under the same.

Gther objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description, and the novel features thereof will beparticularly pointedout in the claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings,which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of thisspecification, and in which- Figure l is an end elevation with portionsbroken away, showing my improvement as applied toa double-barreled gun.Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line .22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is abottom plan of a single gun with aportion of one of the jaws brokenaway. Fig. l is an edge and inside side view of a portion of one of thejaws.

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

Some of the novel features hereinafterdis closed may be employed withoutthe others. They may be all combined in either a single or a double gun.Modifications in detailmay be resorted to without departing from thespirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. In theaccompanying drawings I have illustrated what I at present consider thepreferable form of construction.

Referring now to the details of the draw in gs by letter, A designates aportion of a rail-.

road-rail of known construction.

B is a torpedo of known construction or of any other preferred form, andit is provided with the spring-arn1s B, which may be attached thereto inany suitable manner, but which, instead of being such length as toextend to and engage upon the under face or side of the tread of therail, as heretofore,are of such length that their ends will impingeagainst the vertical faces of the tread of the rail, as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. '1, whereby all liability of contact thereof withthe fish-plates or the bolts thereof is obviated.

The implement for applying the torpedo is constructed as follows: 0 is ahead or basepiece provided with asocket C for the reception of thehandle D. It is formed with jaws E, which are of such length as not toextend below the tread of the rail, so that there will be no danger oftheir coming in contact with the fish-plates or their bolts. The forwardends of these jaws are turned outwardly and their inner faces beveled orrounded, as shown best at e in Fig. 3. This head may be provided withone or two sets of jaws, according to whether it is intended for asingle or double gun. with two sets, while in Fig. 3 a single gun isshown. The jaws at their lower rear edges are provided with hooks oranalogous provisions for holding the ends of the spring-arms of thetorpedo. In Fig. 2 I have shown hooks b, which are of the usualconstruction in this class of devices. In Fig. 4 I have shown adifferent construction,which is, perhaps, preferable in many instances,and it consists of a button 1), eccentrically pivoted on the pivot bheld in said jaw, as clearly shown in said- Fig. 4, and designed to beturned down to permit of the insertion of the ends of the spring-arm,which is provided With a slot 0, as indicated in'Fig. 4, and after thearm has beeninserted the button is turned up, as in dicated inth'e'sid'e ele'vatiomFig. 4, to hold the arm inplac'e. Either of these orother analogous'pi'ovision may be employed in connection "withthe otherfeatui'es of'the invention.

fronfedg'e, at 'theup'pjer side of thesp'ace between the twoj'aws,with"aforwardly extendin}; plate or flange F, the forward edge ofwhich is turned upwardly slightly, as shown best in Fig. 2, so as toavoid contact with slivers or other obstructions'onthe rail. This plate"or flange "extends ;1-earward1 and its rearledgeisf cut away uponcurve'dlin'e's, as shown at) in Fig. 3,'for the reception of thetorpedo, as well "as for the forward edge of the traile1',a sseen bestin Fig. 2. This'trailer G consistsof a flatpiece'of metal, as seen bestin Fig. 3, an'd it serves also as the plunger' oi" presser. It iscarried by shank- G, which inthe case of the double gun "is designedto'work throughan opening in the head orbase pieceC 'and"thr'ough thecrcssgpie ee g of a yoke thereomasseen in'Figs. 1and2, bein gprovidedf'with 'a' transverse pin g, working in slots in thejvcrtic'al'por'tionsiof the yokean'd nor'nially held in its lowermostposition by as'pring H, surrounding the "shank and confined between thepin and the upper cross-bar of the yoke. In the single gun the shank'of'the trailerand presser would be arranged in the'socket formed in thelower'end of'theha'ndle, the operation being the same inb'oth'i'nstan'ces. v V

In order toprevent v injury to the "user of the implementand to'gua'rd"against its being' thrown from the train in case the placer should comein con'tac't 'with an" obstruction,

I soforiinthe handle that it will give or yield to permit the head orbase-piece of the placer to" tilt to pass the obstructionand toimmediately' assumeits normal position. For this purpose'I'forin thehandle in two partsor divide the same within the socket, as seenat d in"Fig.1, pivoting'the upper portion between theside' bars of the socket,as shown Md, and to this 'upper portion above itspivot I attach a flatspring I, as'seen in Fig. 2, the

In Fig. 1 it is shown as provided ings.

The head or base-pieceCis provided'at its lower endof which extends toand bears upon some fixed part ofthe placer, as against the teat orprojection 'i at the rear thereof, as seen in Fig. 2. When the placermeets with an obstruction, the handle is separated at its joint and theupper part moved on its pivot against the action of its spring.obstruction is passed the spring returns the part to its normalposition.

The operation of the device is readily understood from the abovedescription, when taken in connection with the appended drawlhe torpedois placed in position and placedu pon the rail in the usual manner. Theoutwardly-turned ends of the jaws in connection with the upturned guardor plate F insure the proper alignment of'the device with relation'tothe rail and prevent'contact with or'injury by slivers or obstructions.After thetrpedo has been placed upon the rail thetr'ailer follows inther'eniovalof thefimplement and serves .to press the' 'cap uponthe railand prevent tilting or cooking up of the cap or torpedo. To insure'theremovalof-the trailer without danger of tilting the cap,'-the rear endthereof should preferably beslightly turned upward, asindicated in Fig.2.

I am I aware that it has been iproposfedto construct a torpedo-"placerwith 'a curved spring arm to bear upon the top of'thetorp'edo and" keepit from displacement. I deem it im portant-that the trailer be's'oconstructed as to be moved bodily in avertical'pl'aneand that its underface be practically horizontal throughout its entire length, whereby itwill have a flat and uniformbeai-ing uponth'eupperface of the-torpedo,as 'willbe cl'ea'rly understoo'dfrom Fig.2,sothat'all tendency to tiportilt the torpedo is "avoided.

What I claim is-- 1. A torpedo-placer provided "with -a-c'ombinedpre'sser and trailer-bodily'movablever tically, as 'set'forth.

- 2; A torpedo-placer provided with a spring actuated combined presser"and trailer simultan'eously bodily movable Vertically, "as set forth.

3. A torpedo-placerprovided with -a"hori zontal rearwardly-exten'dingtrailer, the rear end of which is turned upwardly,'as'set forth.

4. Ator-pedoplacer provided with a'springactuated combined p'resser andtrailer, the rear end of which is turned u'pwardly,"as'set forth. I

A torpedo-placer having *a'horizontal guard-flange, substantially asspecified.

'6. A torpedo -i placer having a horizontal guard-flangeat its forwardedge, the forward end of the "flange-being turned "upwardly,- "as setforth.

7. A torpedo-placer provided witha bodily-movable trailer and'avertically-movable shank connected therewith,substantially as specified.

'8. A torpedo-placer p'rovide'dwit-h jawsthe forward edges of which areturned outwardly After the and with a horizontal guard-flange theforward edge of which is turned upwardly, as set forth.

9. A torpedo-placer provided with outwardly-turned jaws, ahorizontalguard-flange, and a horizontal trailer, as set forth.

10. A torpedo-placer provided with a horizontal guard-flange and aspring-actuated combined presser and trailer, as set forth.

11. A torpedo-placer provided with a sepa rated handle, one portion ofwhich is pivoted, and a spring upon one part and bearing upon some fixedpart, as set forth.

12. A torpedo-placer provided with jaws, combined with aneccentrically-pivoted button at the lower end thereof, as and for thepurposes specified.

13. A torpedo-placer provided with a vertically-mowmble spring-actuatedshank and a combined horizontal presser and trailer movable with saidshank, substantially as specified.

14. A torpedo-placer provided with jaws so proportioned as to lengthrelatively to the rail asto terminate above the upper edges of thefish-plate and having their forward ends turned outwardly and tapered,as and for the purpose specified.

15. In a torpedo-placer, the combination, with the head formed withjaws, of ahorizontal guard-flange on the head between the jaws, saidflange being extended rearwardly and cutaway, as and for the purposespecified.

16. In a torpedo-placer, the combination, with the head formed withjaws, of a horizontal guard-flange on the head between the jaws, saidflange being extended rearwardly and cut away, and a combined presserand trailer, the forward end of which works in the recess at the rearend of said flange, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' SILAS D. EDGAR.

Witnesses:

HEATH SUTHERLAND, L. O. HILLs.

